Published In
Systems Thinker
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2012
Subjects
Economic development, International finance
Abstract
The underlying purpose of today's global economy, most assume, is to transform natural resources into a continuously growing quantity of goods and services for human consumption. Even when people acknowledge the existence of myriad social and environmental problems such as wide-spread poverty, climate change, extinction of species, and the increasingly unequal distribution of income and wealth, they fail to see economic growth as a fundamental cause of these problems. In fact, many propose that we can "grow our way" out of serious social and financial challenges. Because they see growth as beneficial, they do not recognize that it makes "solution" such recycling and driving hybrid or electric vehicles ultimately ineffectual. This article focuses on how we might solve our economic problems and repair the current global economy.
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/8455
Citation Details
H. Thomas Johnson 2012. A global system growing itself to death - an what we can do about it. Systems Thinker. 23 (4), 2-6.
Description
Originally appeared in Systems Thinker, published by Pegasus Communications, Inc.